Bill Clinton is not responsible for the economic boom of the 90s

After listening to ridiculous comments as expected from a Clinton, that are offensive on multiple levels, we need to set the record straight about one of the best economic periods in American History; the late 80’s and 90s. During the career of Bill Clinton, something happened in American politics which was a transformation of a ‘political’ system, where intellectuals would debate issues of the day, and suggest policy changes – to one of a ‘pay for play’ business regime, culminating in the shadow government we have today. Talking about special interests in modern politics is a joke – ‘special interests’ control the entire system. The idea of a Trump is that this isn’t an issue, because he’s self-funding his campaign, and well – he’s not a politician. But that doesn’t mean he can as a single individual stand up to the special interests – he may be very well overrun by this virus that’s eaten away the core of our political system. As we explain in Splitting Pennies – Understanding Forex – the world isn’t as it seems, the world works in simple ways – those in power just like to make it look complicated.

The thing that business people have to understand about politics as a business – it’s not a normal business. Making a business out of politics is very corrupt. Accepting money for the formation of laws, is an uber – conflict of interest.

Business people must fulfill a need, perform excellent customer service, or create something unique that the market wants. Businessmen are ALWAYS tested by the market – and they’re always one trade away from ruining their entire business. One recall from Toyota- risks their entire business. One bad property deal from Trump – one deal with the ‘wrong’ person – risks the entire operation. POLITICIANS DO NOT HAVE THAT PROBLEM. They are never ‘tested’ for performance and if they are ever ‘questioned’ about it, they can simply use their power to make these risks minimal. Unfortunately, they are all on board with this system.

Politicians, have no value per se, they do not need to have a skill, be literate, do their jobs properly, or perform excellent customer service. In fact, quite the opposite. Once elected, a politican needs to be proven to commit huge crimes in order to be ousted from office. And that, as we’ve seen with HRC, is nearly impossible (because, they control the police, FBI, etc.). Politicans have no value or skill – they have POWER. Because once they are in office, they can enact ordinances, executive orders, create taxes, declare emergencies, zone property, create business licenses, enforce or not enforce regulations, and many other powers. So during the course of the last 60 years, they realized they can sell on the open market their one asset – power. It goes to the highest bidder. Make no mistake – they are not complete puppets for their customers, they are subject to market forces that change things, make mistakes, and do not always acheive the outcomes they desire. However, this power broker system persists in Washington to this day, and is the dominating cog in the political system.

Bill Clinton in some way was a genius in capitalizing on this system first locally in Arkansas and then riding this gravy train all the way to the White House. Bill Clinton was not a businessman, not an economist, not an intellectual. He was a musician by vocation and lawyer by occupation:

Sometime in my sixteenth year, I decided I wanted to be in public life as an elected official. I loved music and thought I could be very good, but I knew I would never be John Coltrane or Stan Getz. I was interested in medicine and thought I could be a fine doctor, but I knew I would never be Michael DeBakey. But I knew I could be great in public service.[3]

The 90’s was a culmination of the 80s, and several key factors, were macro circumstances that produced the boom of the 90s:

The collapse of the Soviet Union – leaving many vassal states for the US to claim, expand business, provide loans – it was a gold rush!

A continual lowering of the interest rate – not quite QE, but at the time, it was extreme

Strong European financial economy, being supported by the US – culminating in the Euro in 1999

Due to collapse of USSR, Military budget was slashed, billions flowed into technology instead of bombs, which allowed the massive tech sector to be built (Internet, Google, Microsoft)

Immigrants, capital, and ideas all flowed into the USA during this time, supporting the economy

China in early expansion, during a period where China ‘needed’ USA, Wal Mart expanding, US-China trade exploding (both ways – not only imports)

Iraq war, although a huge economic waste, had less economic devastation than other wars (like Vietnam) and enabled 10 years of cheap oil and strong US Dollar

These are just some of the economic markers. Each should be allowed its own elaboration, as many of these points fall through the cracks of modern macroeconomics, i.e. FOREX. That’s because 99% of economists don’t consider money supply in their analysis. Let’s be practical, there’s hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into the United States during the 90s from other countries – is this significant? Does this support the US Dollar? Of course it does. And more importantly, the money stayed here, it grew the economy, built businesses, created jobs – it was the ideal climate. There wasn’t a conspiracy, unlike what some may tell you – macro economics & politics is an animal of its own. We can describe the 90s as ‘good weather’ after the storm.

As anyone can see in the Southeast after a Hurricane passes, the weather is simply breathtaking. That’s what happened in the 90s. Not because of Bill Clinton. If anything, you can blame Bill Clinton for taking this economic opportunity and creating many of the problems we have today, such as the Welfare state (entitlement programs), regulation of markets, government inefficiency, and an extension of Washington’s ‘pay for play’ game, which has turned a system of politics into something else all together. It’s an unregulated power market. Too bad there’s not an exchange, we can go short Clinton and hedge our risks.